After two relatively calm days in terms of weather conditions, Saturday afternoon saw the most feared guest appear at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu during the Sony Open: the wind. The strength with which it blew on the back nine, on the coast east of Waikiki Beach, made the course unpredictable and ultimately shook up the leaderboard, which was particularly advantageous for J.J. Spaun (-13), the new leader, and Stephan Jaeger (-12), one of his closest pursuers.
The golfer from Los Angeles, who already knows what it feels like to win on the PGA Tour (he triumphed three years ago at the Valero Texas Open), made a birdie on the par-five 15th to break the tie and, with a round of 65 strokes, took the lead on his own with a one-shot advantage. He had started the day in the top 5 and, although he made a couple of bogeys at the end, he was the one who best understood the playing conditions during that moment of greater instability, responding with two birdies to become the favourite for victory this Sunday.
When going right at it goes wrong 😳
Ryan Gerard gets an unlucky break after his tee shot ricochets off the flagstick @SonyOpenHawaii.
📺 NBC / @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/eU8PNECIMa
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 11, 2025
However, the player who made the most of the ‘moving day’ was the German Jaeger, known for being the only one to beat Scottie Scheffler last year at the Houston Open during the most dominant phase of the world’s Number One. Playing earlier, before the wind gusts blew stronger in the second half of the course, he achieved the best round of the week in the tournament, a tremendous 62, with nine birdies and a single bogey, climbing 40 positions and giving himself a great chance to fight for what would be his second title on the tour.
It won’t be easy for him or Spaun because Patrick Fishburn (-12), despite the strokes lost in the final stretch of his round that knocked him off the lead, Eric Cole (-12), and the six players who, at 11 under par, share fifth place (Keegan Bradley, Harry Hall, Nick Taylor, Nico Echavarría, Brian Harman, and Lee Hodges) still have a lot to say in this first full-field event of the season on the PGA Tour. Not to mention the other five players at 10 under, among whom is a steadily recovering Gary Woodland (-10).
